About this mod
Specializes Jingwei\'s Shocksword for use against robots and power armored soldiers.
- Permissions and credits
This is a replacer. This mod will replace the simulation and wasteland version of Jingwei's Shocksword with my modified versions. This obviously requires Operation: Anchorage, but it will also require Broken Steel. If you already have either version of the sword, this should work fine and replace what you've already got.
Reason:
Jingwei's Shocksword is largely identical to the Shishkebab (only differing in item health), but with the Pyromaniac perk, it gets completely left behind. I wanted to make the sword worth using, so I've reworked it. It's now specialized for use against robots and power armored soldiers, making it tactically useful again.
Changes to the Shocksword:
I've only made a few slight changes to Jingwei's Shocksword. Changes are made to both the simulation and wasteland versions. These changes were done to make the sword more useful as a weapon, but I've been very careful to balance these so it's not an overpowered killing machine.
First, I've removed the shock damage over time to normal enemies, so the sword is actually slightly weaker normally. This same damage will happen only to power armored* soldiers now. Robots will take double the original damage over a doubled duration. This is barely any damage though, so it's not much of a change.
However, the critical hit has been changed a lot. On a critical hit (including sneak attacks), the weapon will paralyze any robot for 2 seconds. Power armor gets overloaded, so anyone wearing power armor will have all body parts immediately crippled on a critical hit. With the Ninja perk, a good Luck score, and Survival Guru (snide), your critical hit chance will be very high, so you'll basically be able to hack robots to pieces without them ever moving, and power armored soldiers will be slow moving and horribly inaccurate; even at melee range they'll miss most of their attacks. It's great.
The Shishkebob is no longer better in all cases. It'll still always do significantly more damage (with Pyromaniac), but now the shocksword is a defensive powerhouse against robots and power armor because the critical effect makes it very difficult for these enemies to even hit you.
*For the damage over time, Helmet doesn't matter - I only check for the power armor suit itself. For all limb damage except head, helmet is also ignored. To cripple the head the enemy must be wearing a power armor helmet though. This check includes all power armors from the original game, Operation: Anchorage, and Broken Steel, including those only obtainable through the console. This does not include power armor from the Pitt (Ashur's or Tribal) or from other mods. Including those would mean they'd be required for this mod to work, which would be rather silly for me to do. I've included Broken Steel because most people will have it anyway and it adds a large number of enemies who use a new power armor style, so I really need to cover them for the sword to remain useful in Broken Steel.
Compatibility
Anything that modifies Jingwei's Shocksword will conflict. There's no reason to use multiple because whichever one is lowest on your load order will take effect, so just use one mod that modifies this weapon.
Personal Advertising
I've made a few mods now, so I might as well advertise them a little. These are all made with game balance in-mind.
Night Person Night Vision
Changes Night Person's effect into a toggled night vision.
Stealth Field Perk
Creates a new perk that allows a toggled stealth field that drains AP while active.
Anti-Robotics Tesla Cannon
This reworks the Tesla Cannon to be specialized for use against robots or power armored soldiers.
Critical Covert Ops
The normal effect for Covert Ops is underwhelming. This changes it to a +15% bonus to sneak attacks.
Ash and Goo Piles Be Gone
Stops disintegration/gooification effects just before they replace the corpse with a pile.
Reason:
Jingwei's Shocksword is largely identical to the Shishkebab (only differing in item health), but with the Pyromaniac perk, it gets completely left behind. I wanted to make the sword worth using, so I've reworked it. It's now specialized for use against robots and power armored soldiers, making it tactically useful again.
Changes to the Shocksword:
I've only made a few slight changes to Jingwei's Shocksword. Changes are made to both the simulation and wasteland versions. These changes were done to make the sword more useful as a weapon, but I've been very careful to balance these so it's not an overpowered killing machine.
First, I've removed the shock damage over time to normal enemies, so the sword is actually slightly weaker normally. This same damage will happen only to power armored* soldiers now. Robots will take double the original damage over a doubled duration. This is barely any damage though, so it's not much of a change.
However, the critical hit has been changed a lot. On a critical hit (including sneak attacks), the weapon will paralyze any robot for 2 seconds. Power armor gets overloaded, so anyone wearing power armor will have all body parts immediately crippled on a critical hit. With the Ninja perk, a good Luck score, and Survival Guru (snide), your critical hit chance will be very high, so you'll basically be able to hack robots to pieces without them ever moving, and power armored soldiers will be slow moving and horribly inaccurate; even at melee range they'll miss most of their attacks. It's great.
The Shishkebob is no longer better in all cases. It'll still always do significantly more damage (with Pyromaniac), but now the shocksword is a defensive powerhouse against robots and power armor because the critical effect makes it very difficult for these enemies to even hit you.
*For the damage over time, Helmet doesn't matter - I only check for the power armor suit itself. For all limb damage except head, helmet is also ignored. To cripple the head the enemy must be wearing a power armor helmet though. This check includes all power armors from the original game, Operation: Anchorage, and Broken Steel, including those only obtainable through the console. This does not include power armor from the Pitt (Ashur's or Tribal) or from other mods. Including those would mean they'd be required for this mod to work, which would be rather silly for me to do. I've included Broken Steel because most people will have it anyway and it adds a large number of enemies who use a new power armor style, so I really need to cover them for the sword to remain useful in Broken Steel.
Compatibility
Anything that modifies Jingwei's Shocksword will conflict. There's no reason to use multiple because whichever one is lowest on your load order will take effect, so just use one mod that modifies this weapon.
Personal Advertising
I've made a few mods now, so I might as well advertise them a little. These are all made with game balance in-mind.
Night Person Night Vision
Changes Night Person's effect into a toggled night vision.
Stealth Field Perk
Creates a new perk that allows a toggled stealth field that drains AP while active.
Anti-Robotics Tesla Cannon
This reworks the Tesla Cannon to be specialized for use against robots or power armored soldiers.
Critical Covert Ops
The normal effect for Covert Ops is underwhelming. This changes it to a +15% bonus to sneak attacks.
Ash and Goo Piles Be Gone
Stops disintegration/gooification effects just before they replace the corpse with a pile.